The bird flu outbreak has taken concerning turns this year, with a surge in human cases and the virus showing signs of adapting to humans. Scientists are worried about the virus' spread in animals, detections in wastewater, unidentified source infections in humans, and its ability to evolve towards human transmission.
This year has been marked by concerning developments in the virus’ spread, including widespread detections in wastewater and mutations observed in the virus.The bird flu outbreak took several concerning turns this year, with the number of human cases up to at least 64.Philadelphia news 24/7: Watch NBC10 free wherever you are
An unwelcome surprise arrived in March, when dairy cows began to fall ill, eat less feed and produce discolored milk. likely through raw milk, since infected cows shed large amounts of the virus through their mammary glands. Raccoons and farm cats appeared to get sick by drinking raw milk, too. “The ways in which a community and consumers are directly at risk now is in raw milk and cheese products,” Chin-Hong said. “A year ago, or even a few months ago, that risk was lower.”The majority of the human H5N1 infections have been among poultry and dairy farmworkers. But in several puzzling cases, no source of infection has been identified.
Earlier this month, about 19% of the sites in the CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System — across at least 10 states — “We are starting to see it in more and more places where we don’t know what the source might be automatically,” Lockwood said, adding: “We are in the throes of a very big numbers game.”Until recently, scientists who study viral evolution thought H5N1 would need a handful of mutations to spread readily between humans. this month found that the version of the virus circulating in cows could bind to human receptors after a single mutation.
The agency’s investigations do not suggest that “the virus is adapting to readily transmit between humans,” the spokesperson added.
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